Be Strong in The Lord and the Power of His Might

 

“In this way the Word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” (Acts 19:20)

Grew in power here is also referred to as prevailing. It was not ineffective. It grew and came into full strength. We see this power at work among the newly forming church among the gentiles. As Paul brought them the good news and spoke boldly about Jesus, many believed and the power of God moved mightily through him.

Acts 19:11-12 says, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. “

It goes on to say that the Greeks and Jews living in Ephesus were seized with fear and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many believed and confessed their sin. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publically. With this, it totaled about 50,000 day’s wages. Think about it, this would equate today to about $10M. (Acts 19:17-19).

The Lord was clearly taking dominion as Paul and others planted his feet in the purposes of God and pulled them down for that time by faith. They were the broken barley bread and fish, the Lord miraculously used them to establish the Kingdom of God among the people.

There was also a building momentum as the power that was moving among them. This was the same power that was poured out at Pentecost. It was the power that Jesus came to bring to the church He formed – baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11-12).

“We won’t stop until the whole earth looks like heaven” sings in the background.

The word power here in the initial verse is kratos, which means dominion, strength, might that prevails against the enemy and oppositional force. It is the same word that is used in Ephesians 1:19 where Paul prays about this incomparable great power that is for all of us who believe.

In Ephesians 1:18-21 Paul prays, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”

So why do we care about this power?

Over and over, the Word tells us that the Lord rules with this power. His name is full of power (Jer. 10:6). If He was powerless, the enemy would overtake Him (and us, those protected by Him). We fear the Lord because of His great power and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Also, throughout the Word, we hear stories of how people thought idols had power and worshipped them which tells us we were designed to recognize a power greater than ourselves and follow.

It was through His power that Jesus showed compassion to others. When He was asked by a disciple of John’s if He was the One, He didn’t tell Him to go back and tell John to look around at how they loved and hugged each other. He said to tell John that the lame were walking, the blind had sight, the leapers were healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor. (Luke 7:22)

If you are blind, lame, deaf, wounded, traumatized, tormented or have an incurable disease, I am telling you that it is really good news that Jesus Christ walks in power. It is incredible compassion. For myself, I wouldn’t be alive today without the power of God setting me free from depression, anxiety, trauma, fear, hopelessness and torment.

We are also to walk in this power?

And as we are to walk in His footsteps and imitate Him, we are called to walk in power.

And when God said, “let us make man in Our own image,” He was speaking here of giving us power and authority to rule, take dominion, be fruitful and multiply. He is filled not only with love, compassion, goodness and long-suffering, but power. When He grabbed His twelve disciples, He not only showed them love, but encouraged their faith and demonstrated His power.

Jesus sent His disciples out two by two to step into His power and see that they could walk in it as well. He wanted it to be clear that it was not just for Him when He walked the earth, but for His Bride. We are called to walk by faith, in His power and see the captives set free.

As Paul says in Ephesians, there is incomparably great power for us who believe. Here it says that it is not just for Paul but “for us who believe.” It is the same mighty strength that raised Jesus from the dead. God not only wants us to have this power, but He sacrificed everything with a joy to see an equally yoked Bride that walks in this power and sets the captives free.
Friends, we need to remember that we have an enemy who walks in a level of power. I woke up prophesying in my sleep that God is raising up "frontrunners" and the time of "forerunners" is now past and closed. Forerunners go in advance of the battle to prepare the way like the spies from the Bible. Frontrunners are at the frontline of the battle itself. We have shifted from waiting into the final battle. So important to know as the Bible says that the enemy's plan is to create anguish for those who do not know Him. But we are not given a spirit of fear, but of power , peace, joy and a sound mind. And we have the opportunity to share this peace and joy with anyone who is being tormented. The answer to fighting these unseen forces well is walking in the miraculous. Forerunner - "a person or thing that precedes the coming or development of someone or something else." Frontrunner - "an athlete or horse that runs best when in the front of the field [or line of military force for offense or defense]."

So why were we given this power?

As a church body, we are not only to survive when the gates of hell come and oppose us, but we are to turn the tide and take the dominion by the power of God. We are to, like the examples here, see the power of God exerted in authority in a way that makes Jesus undeniable.

In this example scripture here, it is clearly used to establish His Kingdom and push back the dominion of the enemy. It is used to set captives free, deliver people from the demonic, break chains of bondage, and spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.

As Jesus asked His disciples to wait and pray for the Holy Spirit and His power, He told them it was so they could be effective witnesses. In Acts 1:8, He told them, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

We see in Acts, as the church was being established, that there was this growing momentum of power. When God moves in power and many people come to know Him, hearts are changed and softened towards God, people are healed, delivered, set free, and see things from a totally different perspective; this is His power at work. In Acts, we see more devotion, unity of the body, generosity and a flourishing of Christian lives.

So, like this example in Acts, what causes the power of the Holy Spirit to grow in momentum around them?

Step Into His Purposes

As we step into the purposes of God, there Is a growing momentum. One of the things that the people of God were doing is planting their feet in the promises of God and pulling down His will for their time and season they were living in. They listened to God and understood what He was doing in their time. Then, by faith, they stepped out into His will. We see Paul being sent the Gentiles when he would have rather been with the Jews (his people that he was most comfortable with).

Exercise Faith

We know that without faith, it is impossible to please God. And as we plant our feet in His promises and earnestly seek Him, know that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him. As we consistently step out and exercise faith, it grows. Faith is the currency of the unseen realm. However, our focus is not on faith but on Jesus, the source of our faith. It is not “faith” in general but “faith in Jesus” that opens us up to be a channel to the unseen realm to move mountains.

Generosity

The Word of God tells us that true spirituality is to make the difference in the lives of the poor, orphans, and widows in their troubles and refuse to be corrupted by the world’s values. We see with the forming church an incredible generosity where they sold their assets and gave it way to help others around them. They refused to be pulled by the worlds way of looking at life from what you have and what you own or owe. Rather, they saw things from the perspective of in everything, being leveled up to whole, even in what they owned. And in this, what they held in their relationship with the Lord, overflowed in their lives.

Surrender

As a result of following Christ and His ways, as the church was formed, they began to become persecuted. Signs and wonders were flowing freely and the church began to be pressed. Rather than try to control things, press back or demand their rights, they pressed in for more of God. Even being scattered and losing everything, they just began to flow freely in the river of God to wherever He would take them and they overflowed their banks with more of Him.

I saw a great deal of surrender with my mom the years and months before she went home to be with the Lord. As she lost more and more abilities, she became more filled to overflowing with the glory of God. She could no longer drive, own her own place, care for herself or even at times, go anyplace without asking permission. In all of it, it caused her to flourish and started to prepare her for the transition from this worldly kingdom to going home to the Kingdom of God.

Sacrifice

We see great sacrifices being made by many for the gospel message to be spread. People began to order their lives around the gospel. And as persecution came from the power of God being demonstrated, they held fast and maintained their joy in their affliction. Even in being severely persecuted, they prayed for boldness rather than for the momentum to stop.

In Luke 21:12-13 it talks about a time of great affliction and persecution before the coming of the Lord. And says, “But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.” It says in Luke 21:19, “By standing firm, you will win souls.”

Weakness

Paul clearly tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, But he [the Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

There is something about human weakness and the power of God. We see this with fasting. As you pull back on your physical strength, your spiritual strength flourishes. There are times in my life where I struggled with being weary and found God move through me in surprising ways. Fasting can also be around sleep in pulling back on our physical strength. We see with Jesus that as every day He went to the temple of teach, each evening He returned to spend the night on Mount of Olives (Luke 21:37).

Failure

We also see God use failure in powerful ways. The world’s way of seeing success and failure has to do with how much you own and how you influence others around you as a result. In the Kingdom of God, failure on these terms grows greater momentum. So as we are paired down, lack influence, suffer financially, these tests prepare us to trust. Failure in the Kingdom of God is failure to trust Him. We need to believe what God spoke to us no matter what is going on around us. And through our growing belief and faith, we begin to see the Kingdom take root and grow.

God can also use our poor choices to learn from them and grow Kingdom momentum. When Saul was persecuting the church, the Lord stopped him and corrected his path. I love that God gave Saul a new name through it. He received a full fresh start. Grace can be amazing. And through learning from his failure, Paul grew in amazing momentum.

Jeremiah 8:4 says, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Don’t people get back up again when they fall down? If they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn around?’”

Power Outage

We need character to carry the power of God. If we fail to have character, we will constantly fall flat on our face when God moves through us in power. As we take dominion, the push back will be too much for us and we will begin to flounder. I have seen people who move in God’s power, and then experience incredible depression or anxiety, church splits or other physical difficulties. Or they get shaken up or full of pride and start making really unwise choices. We need to allow the push back as we take dominion to grow endurance which grows our character.

Paul says in Romans 5:3-4, “Not only so [boast in the hope of the glory of God], but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

When we fall, we just need to keep getting back up, learning and growing from it. The only way to genuinely fail is to quit. When we quit and walk away, we lose all momentum we have gained. But as God tests us, failing does not mean it is over. If someone has an indiscretion with a weakness, what about instead of quitting or hiding, they bring it to the light and ask for help from others?

An example from the Bible is Peter, who literally cut someone’s ear off and then denied Christ. He admitted his failure and repented, keeping on moving forward and was restored by Jesus to an even greater ministry. What about if we allow our weakness and failures to grow us in dependence upon God and others for support? Hiding in shame, sitting down and giving up means it is over.

Unwavering Commitment

This brings up the point of keeping on getting back up. Paul and others demonstrated an unwavering commitment. They didn’t stop or quit when things became too hard or they failed. They didn’t choose their own comfort over spreading the gospel. When they were bullied, pushed around, stolen from, and abused, they just kept getting back up and running after the Lord. They learned that they could be content and do all things through Christ who gave them strength.

Here is something we miss out on, that there is a place of incredible contentment in the midst of our difficult circumstances when we follow the Lord. When we let every circumstance push us in deeper into Christ and become resilient rather than resistant, there is incredible contentment and joy. The consolations for the things we face are so much greater than the struggles. We don’t need to worry about a thing as God has a firm grip on us. Difficulty eventually results in a place of deeper connection to God and freedom if we keep trusting.

Fellowship

How we can keep getting back up is that we are encouraged by others. Others come around us and remind us of who we are called to be in Christ. We need each other. It is iron that sharpens iron. We see that with the church of Acts, as it was spreading like wildfire, the people gathered together every night to break bread. They were in each other’s lives. They loved on and encouraged each other in hardship; and , they spurred each other on to greater commitment and sacrifice.

Humility

Part of navigating difficulty is also staying humble. It is not about us or how great we are; It is all about Him and who He is. When we keep pointing towards Him and take ourselves lightly, we are in a better position to be resilient when difficulty comes our way.

We all know the verse that when we humble ourselves, we will be lifted up in due time. Interesting that the word for being lifted up or exalted is the same one that is used with Jesus on the cross. He humbled Himself in obedience and was hung up on a cross while being painfully mocked. Yet, His sacrifice led to incredible gain for us.

Humility forgets about self and looks out for the best interests of others. It puts oneself aside and helps others to get ahead. And in finding joy in this, one finds a closeness with God they wouldn’t find otherwise. I find this with developing other leaders – I have this incredible enthusiasm and joy that just spills out everywhere. I love it as it makes me feel connected to God in deeper ways.

I recently talked with a leader that works for me about finding your place. She was trying to discern God’s will for her life as it relates to her job. She didn’t feel a right fit where she is because it makes her uncomfortable, the position is new to her, and she struggles some with failure in it. While it may or may not be the right place for her, I told her that what made her most comfortable and felt good was not necessarily God’s will. We need to genuinely listen to God and what He is speaking to us.

She asked me how I found my right spot as I seem to be so well fit for finance and accounting. When I first went into my career field, I didn’t know the Lord. I chose my career because I was a single mom and needed a stable job that provided good insurance. According to all the reports, Accountant was the way to go. I don’t even really like accounting. Yet, God saw my desire in it to bless my family and He has blessed and anointed me in it. He prospers me in it. And through it, He has opened the door for me to develop others which I love.

In another situation, if I had been most concerned with what was comfortable and felt good, my husband and I would never became involved in foster parenting – especially as we were being told that he was going blind. In fact, we have several people tell us that taking on our two boys and mom was too much. Yet, God spoke something different. He said it was going to get easier and the path would grow brighter. And as we stepped into it, it has grown so amazingly bright, full, and joyful with them in our lives. And I had the opportunity to spend more time with my mom before she went home.

All that to come to the conclusion that the more of God we have in our lives, the more our lives will flourish and be full. The more peace, the more joy, the more goodness spills out everywhere. And the more we will see the miraculous all around us, in us, and through us. He just does amazing things all the time. And He wants to do them through us. He invites us to get a front row seat in not only seeing His incredible power but walking in it as we step into what He calls us to do with Him.

Lord Jesus, fill us with Your wonder working power. But most importantly, draw us closer to you than ever before. We want to be like You and near to You.